“Enjoy life, surround yourself with love!”
Germaine Graf is born in 1919 in Morges. She grows up surrounded by her three sisters and experiences a happy childhood within a caring and loving family. Her parents make sure to provide their daughters with a quality education.
Germaine Graf chooses to become a milliner, a profession that brings her great joy. She shows remarkable talent and dedicates herself fully to her training, even winning a prize for excellence at the Vocational School. She also creates a hat for General Guisan’s wife, a memory she is proud of!
In her free time, she sings in a choir, participates in cantonal festivals, and develops a passion for embroidery. These years are filled with joy, social exchanges, family gatherings, concerts, music, and singing. It is also during this period that she meets her future husband.
The couple marries in 1944; Germaine Graf is 25 years old. Two years later, she becomes the mother of two children. This marriage, marked by deep love, lasts 60 years. The family lives by respect for faith, a love of work, and care for others. Germaine Graf constantly cultivates gratitude for what life offers her. She maintains a positive attitude, even in the face of the hardships of war, when sadness sometimes overwhelms her and her children’s future seems uncertain. The choir and her circle of friends help maintain a joyful life and a strong family balance.
She must wait until she is 52 to gain the right to vote, but her independence is already evident in other areas. Changes in the world excite her: technological progress, aviation, the arrival of the refrigerator, television, and its impact on society… so many new things pass through her long life!
Until she is over 68, she works in a hair salon with her husband at Place Chauderon in Lausanne. Together, they share everything and work hand in hand. She welcomes clients, supervises apprentices and staff. In difficult years, they prefer to spoil their employees at Christmas rather than giving each other gifts. For her, integrity and gratitude toward others are essential in her profession.
Germaine Graf never imagined living so long. Looking back, she says her positive attitude and kindness contributed to it. She does not practice any particular sport, but she follows a healthy diet and leads a life full of love for others.
At 105, Germaine Graf lives at the Béthanie Institute in Lausanne, since three years. She finds it a good solution so that her children can have their own lives. Her family visits her regularly, and every Sunday she goes to her daughter and son-in-law’s house for lunch. She also receives visits from the children of friends and former employees. In this caring environment, surrounded by attentive staff, she appreciates her good fortune every day. Death does not worry her. Her days remain active: she participates in gymnastics classes and in the choir. To young people, she recommends: “Enjoy life to the fullest and surround yourself with love!”